The Blog

We can find in today’s New York Times a story which tries to investigate if Wikipedia should be more careful with summaries of movies, plays and books, in order to avoid spoilers.

An example of a play struggling with this issue is Agatha Christie play “The Mousetrap.” The play’s twist ending has been preserved by writers and even viewers for years. However, Wikipedia summarizes the play and clearly explain the end “who the killer is.”

There are many opinions about spoilers in Wikipedia. Christie’s grandson, Matthew Prichard is dismayed and shocked that Wikipedia cannot keep a secret. On the other hand, Carlton Cuse, an executive producer of the “Lost” TV series, doesn’t see spoilers in Wikipedia as a bad thing. Even that all episodes of “Lost” are individually summarized at Wikipedia, he said that after each episode has officially aired, the narrative is out there for public consumption, and if you do not want something spoiled, you just don’t go to Wikipedia.